Better Days
by Dex-El of Krypton
Summary: What if Smallville was a part of the Arrowverse? Superman took his first steps to becoming the Man of Steel in the streets of Smallville. But what if he wasn't the only hero to get his start there? What if the Man of Tomorrow had a past connection to the Scarlet Speedster of Central City and the Emerald Archer of Starling City? And what if the Kryptonian race didnt end with Kal-El?


Earth 23

Episode One: Better Days

Chapter 1

2010

Clark was running late. And for a high school freshman that's faster than a locomotive, that is truly saying something. At fifteen years old, Clark could be easily distracted from time to time. Currently, Clark was speed reading thru pages of "research" his best friend, well his best guy friend had texted him in the very early hours of the morning.

On the computer screen, Clark quickly reads about a teenage boy in Colorado that had broken the 100-meter dash world record with a time of 2.4 seconds.

'Impressive for some maybe', thought Clark, 'but hardly Wall of Weird material.'

Another page was about a six-year-old Korean that had lifted a car off his injured parent. 'It's articles like this that eventually led Bill Bixby to turn into Lou Ferrigno.' Clark thought with a chuckle.

"Clark Kent, you're gonna be late for the school bus!" called up a voice from downstairs.

"Coming Mom" he called back. He quickly responded to the link on Facebook, "Keep dreaming Mulder." After a moment the response read, "The truth is out there Scully" followed by an emoticon of a little green man. Clark rolled his eye and shut off the computer.

As he made his way to the stairs, he knocked on the closed bathroom door, "You're gonna be late Milady" he teased.

A young voice on the other side of the door responded, "Well maybe if someone didn't use up all the hot water, again, I would have been ready by now."

Clark grinned, "Maybe if someone was faster to the door this morning she could have used all the hot water she desired."

The voice called back, "When I get my license next month, you're riding in the back of the truck every day. Especially when it rains."

Clark laughed, "Like I'd ever get in an automobile with you behind the wheel." and he made his way down the stairs.

Upon entering the kitchen, Clark opened the fridge to drink the milk. After only a sip his mother chastised him, "Uh-uh"

"It tastes better out of the bottle."

"Where'd you learn you're manners?" asked Martha.

"On a farm," Clark replied with a grin.

The back door opened and Clark's father, Jonathan entered taking off his jacket and greeting his son, "Afternoon sleepyhead."

As he said this a door upstairs slammed. Clark asked, "Why don't you ever tease her for running late?"

Jonathan looked at his son, "Because she's usually up before even me, son. I didn't know joggers got up before farmers."

Martha handed her husband his coffee mug but Jonathan proceeded to drink the milk straight from the bottle. Martha smacked him on the arm as she said, "Now remember, I have class tonight and you know who has got that shift at the diner after school. So you two are on your own and don't just order pizza this time. There's plenty of food in the fridge."

Jonathan said, "You'd never would have found out about last time if Shelby hadn't ratted us out. And to think I thought she was man's best friend."

Martha grinned, "That's because we women stick together."

Jonathan chuckled before noticing Clark was nervously clutching a piece of paper, "What do you have there, son?"

Clark cleared his throat and stood up to face his father, "Permission slip. It's for the football team."

Martha nervously turned away from the dished to face her son. She noticed the fourth person living in the Kent home was about to walk into the kitchen. Martha quickly shook her head and gestured for the other person to shush. The young woman in the kitchen doorway squinted at Martha to ask why then spotting the paper in Clark's hand. Her eyebrows reached for her red hairline and she wisely held her tongue and watched the inevitable trainwreck.

Clark continued addressing his father, "A couple spots opened up on the team. They're having tryouts this afternoon." he handed the slip into his father's hands. Jonathan quickly glanced at before handing it to his wife. "Come on dad, you played football in high school."

Jonathan Kent sighed, "That was different son."

"Why?" Clark asked faux innocently.

"You know why." was his father's response.

Clark, not giving up, "I figured I'd run half speed and I won't hit anybody."

The young woman entered the room and reached for her mug on the counter. She sent Clark a small encouraging smile and turned to watch father and son have their moment.

Jonathan said, "Son, a lot of things can happen in the heat of the game."

The young woman gestured with her hands behind Jonathan and Martha's backs to tell Clark to change his tactic. Seeing this, Clark replied, "Most of the guys hardly even play." The young woman nodded her head and gave Clark a thumbs up and then waved her hands at him to keep going. "Chances are I'll ride the bench half the season." The young woman quickly shook her head no and gestured for him to dial it back. Clark glanced at her before looking back at his father, "Or even maybe the entire season for all we know. Come on dad. I can be careful."

Jonathan Kent took a moment to sip his coffee before calmly answering his son, "I know that you can be careful but what if there's an accident?"

Clark and the young woman both sigh. Clark rolls his eyes and turns away from his parents.

Jonathan sighed and places his hand on his son's shoulder, "Clark, I know this has gotta be hard for ya but you gotta hang in there like we promised."

Clark took a deep breath, feeling his anger rising, With a voice laced with his annoyance, "I'm sick of hangin' in there. All I want to do is to make it through high school without being a total loser." And with that Clark snatched up his bag and walked out the back door.

Jonathan and Martha both sadly watched as their son stormed off. The young woman put down her mug and picked up her bag before making to follow the troubled teen. She turned to Jonathan and Martha, gave them both a sympathetic smile and said, "Don't worry, I'll talk to him."

Martha smiled, "Thank you so much, sweetie. Have a nice day. I'll pick you up tonight." Jonathan also thanked the youth and bid her goodbye.

The young woman quickly caught up the Clark walking down the driveway toward the bus stop. "Well, that could have gone better."

Clark quickly glared at her but when he saw her sympathetic smile he dropped the attitude, "Thanks for the encouragement back there. I guess you were right about him not budging."

Trying to make the boy smile, "Have I ever told you that I'm always right?"

Clark grinned down at her, "Only every day since we met."

 _(Flashback)_

1998

Five-year-old Clark Kent was lost. He had been playing outside with his new puppy. His mother was working in the garden and had told Clark to not to go beyond the fence in the backyard. Clark had been tossing an old baseball in the yard and the puppy would run out before bringing it back, making the young child giggle each time. Each time Clark would throw it a little further and further each time. Before long, Clark cranked his arm back said, "Go long Shelby" before throwing the ball with all his little might. Unfortunately, all his might was along mighty than the five-year-old intended. The ball went far over the fence, past the pasture full of the Kent's livestock, and all the way into the trees.

Little Clark quickly panicked and took off after the ball as fast as his little legs could carry him, which was considerably quick for one so small. If anyone had been timing him, the five-year-old would have broken the world record for the 100-meter dash. Shelby quickly loss pace with the boy, and after barking for several minutes, returned to alert the boy's mother. Terrified, Martha quick began running and calling out to her son.

The son in question had wandered into the forest for about a couple minutes before finally finding his ball. He grinned as he bent down the pick it up and put it in his pocket. He turned and said, "That was too far Shelby." but the dog was not behind him like he had thought. Clark began turning around and around in the forest and calling after his dog. When he received no reply, frightened Clark Kent chose a direction and started quickly walking while calling out to his puppy and his mother.

After several minutes of calling out, Clark heard a closed voice shushing him. Scared, Clark quickly turned to his side to see a small red-headed girl who appeared to be about the same age, with the greenest eyes that Clark had ever seen. The girl was frowning at him with her finger on her lips.

Forgetting his predicament, Clark loudly said, "Hiya!"

The little girl swatted at Clark's arm, not that he felt it, and shushed him again.

Clark's eyed widened and put his finger to his lips. He quietly said, "Oh sorry."

The little girl took her eyes off the bluest eyes she had ever seen and quickly looked behind her to see and listen if anyone was angerly following the boy's calls. She turned back to him and dropped the finger from her lips and quietly said, "It's okay."

Clark grinned at her and with a raised but not too loud voice said, "Hiya!" again.

The girl looked at Clark with big eyes before replying, "Hi" in a small voice.

Clark quickly stuck out his hand, like his mother had taught him, "I'm Clark. Clark Kent." after a moment of hesitation smiled and continued, "You're pretty."

The little girl replied frowned, "You're loud." She didn't shake his hand.

Clark asked, "Why are we being so quiet?"

The little girl turned to check again if the coast was clear, "Because I'm hiding."

Clark's eyes widened, "From what?"

Tess looked down at her shoes, "From daddy." she whispered even quieter than before.

Clark, thinking they were playing a game, took the little girls hand and lead her back thru the woods to a little pond he had passed on his way here.

The little girl tried to pry her arm free but Clark didn't notice, "Where are we going!" she said louder than she had been thus far with fear in her voice.

Clark turned back and grinned, "I saw a good hiding place over here."

The girl demanded, "Let go of me."

Clark stopped and turned to her with a frown, "Oh I'm so sorry. Are you okay?"

The girl cradled her arm, "I'm fine" was what she was conditioned to say whenever asked that question.

Clark pointed off in the distance, "It's over here." and took off in that direction. The little girl looked back behind her before deciding to follow the boy.

When Clark got to the lake he looked at all the small rocks by the water. He turned to the girl, "Do you like to skip rocks?"

She replied, "Maybe" drawing out the E at the end and giving the boy a confused look.

Clark frowned, "I don't know how. My dad's tried to teach me but he says I'm throwing it too hard."

The girl asked, "How hard?"

Clark replied, "Really hard" bragging slightly. Clark wanted to impress the little girl with green eyes.

The redhead told Clark to show her.

So Clark picked up a small round rock and grinned at her before throwing the rock at the water. With the force of his throw, the rock made a much larger slash than the girl would have thought possible.

She shook her head, "That's not how you do it. You gotta use a flat rock."

Clark asked her, "How do you know?"

She stated with all the assuredness of a fellow five years old, "Because I know everything." She bent down and handed Clark a different rock.

Clark grinned at her and tried again, but with the force of his throw and at that angle, the flat rock broke against the water and sank beneath its depths.

The girl rolled her eyes, "No like this. And not so hard this time." and she took another rock and when she placed it in the boy's hands she came behind him with her hand on his arm. She gently drew Clark's arm back and showed him how to flick his wrist before he released. The first time Clark still didn't make it, because he was distracted by the pretty smell coming from the girl and the goosebumps on his arms.

On the fourth attempt, with the girl's coaching, Clark managed to skip the rock on the water. The rock traveled much further than the girl had ever seen a rock skip before. Overjoyed, Clark quickly turned and wrapped his arms around the girl in a hug. Not too tightly, his mother had taught him just how much strength to use when he hugged another person or his puppy.

The little girl, never had been hugged that she could remember, didn't return the gesture. She was frozen stiff in Clark's arms. The little boy didn't notice.

At that moment, in the distance, the two children could hear a woman's voice calling out Clark's name in a panicked voice. Clark quickly broke the hug and turned toward the voice. "That's my mom." He began walking in that direction before noticing the girl wasn't following him.

"Wanna come to my house and see my puppy?" he asked.

The little girl looked down at her feet and quietly said, "I need to go home."

"Is it far away?"

"No its just on the other side of those trees." She pointed in the opposite direction of the voice.

Thinking quickly, the little boy asked, "Do you wanna play tomorrow? We can meet here."

After a moment the little girl answered, "Okay"

Clark grinned and began walking toward his mother before turning back around, "Hey, what's your name?"

The girl looked into his blue eyes, "Tess. Tess Mercer."

Ever the little gentleman his mother was raising, Clark said, "Nice to meet you, Tess. See you tomorrow."

Before he entered the tree line, Tess called out Clark's name. He turned back to look at her and she asked, "Can I see you're puppy tomorrow?"

Clark grinned, "Sure you can. Her name's Shelby."

Martha Kent called out Clark's name, much closer this time. Clark said, "Well I gotta go. Bye Tess." and he waved.

Tess replied back, with the first smile that Clark had seen on her pretty face, "Goodbye Clark."

 _(End Flashback)_

Clark and Tess both smiled warmly, staring into each others' eyes, both absorbed in that memory. So lost in each others' eyes, that neither noticed the school bus until it was halfway down the road and turning the corner. Clark sighed and Tess rolled her eyes.

Inside the bus, a brunette with glasses watched as two of her best friends get left behind, too busy making googly eyes at each other to notice the world around them. 'Why am I even surprised?' she thinks as she pulls out a dollar and passes it to her other best friend, "I can't believe you bet against you're best friends."

The skinny brown haired boy smirked, "It's a statistical fact. If those two lovebirds moved any slower when they're caught in each others' orbit, they'd be extinct."

Back on the farm, Clark mocked glared and pointed, "That was totally you're fault."

Tess rolled her eyes, "Oh yes. I've totally and completely weighed down the fastest farmboy alive. However, will he ever make it anywhere in life with me holding him back?" she finished with a smirk.

Clark grinned at the redhead and looked around the make sure no one was around. "Shall we take the scenic route today Miss Mercer?"

Tess made a show of checking the time on her phone, "Why we only ten minutes before the tardy bell Mister Kent. I guess that gives us just enough time to loop around the town two or three times today."

Clark laughed and held out his hand to Tess with a slight bow, "Milady?"

Tess bowed herself and answered, "Milord" before leaping into the tall boy's arms. And with a matching pair of grins, Clark sped away in the blink of an eye.

 **Rumor's of my death have been gravely exaggerated. Its great to be back old readers and new. I apologize for the years I've been on hiatus. It feels so good to be back in Smallville. Feels like I never truly left. If anyone happened to have found this story in the last week under the title Earth 23 by Badwolf23, that was me. I thought after all these years it would be better to publish under a new name, but this story was getting almost no traffic with that profile so hopefully, this story can now start to get some eyes on it. Will update this week. Please leave some feedback**

 **Dex-El of Krypton**


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